The struggle and the sacrifices we make to succeed in our lives in the spotlight is not news. But the backstage crews face the same challenges to follow their dreams. Anne, 24, from Rathmullan, Donegal, is committed to her career in production and knows what it takes.
Festivals are a way of life. I get so used to living on site that the adjustment when I return home to normality takes weeks. It's strange to live in a house again, with my own bedroom and to not be constantly surrounded by people. On site, my team is my family, I live with coworkers and everything is shared. My only time alone is in the bathroom.
I was a Site Producer for Latitude, Leeds and Reading this year and I've worked on every major Irish festival. Site Producers organise everything needed for a festival to run, except the music. I lived on site for three months sharing a portacabin room and having no personal life whatsoever.
"People who want this job because they think it's glamorous...get a rude awakening"
People who want this job because they think it's glamorous or think they’ll meet a lot of celebrities, or will party all the time and see a bunch of gigs get a rude awakening when they start and they sink or swim. This is a serious business and there’s no time for people who don’t know what they’re doing, who aren’t prepared to work hard and learn. I got my first job on a festival because another girl sank and I got the call asking me to start in a week. I was in the deep end, but I got stuck in and proved myself. I was then given more work and I’ve advanced up the ladder.
I got into this business for the music. I always wanted to work with artists, to put on shows and amazing events. I love seeing it through from discovering a band, putting them on stage and seeing the crowd's reaction and their reaction to the crowd. I love knowing that I’ve done that for so many people, all through music. After some time in the industry though, I’ve come to realise I’m in it because I also love the work. I love working long hours with the team, putting everything we have into something and seeing thousands of people having the time of their life. It’s not for the faint hearted though; it is a highly pressured environment and you need to be able to make smart decisions fast. With thousands of people on site, if a health and safety situation emerges, for example, you need to solve it quickly and often with the challenge of being in a remote location without the usual resources.
"It's quite a selfish job...we live away from home for months every year"
I love my work, but I have lost some of my passion for festivals. When I go to one now, I spend my time looking at the way it's been hosted and looking for ideas I can use to improve the festivals I work on. I don’t pay as much attention to the bands and I can’t get as wrapped up in the music as I used to before I worked in the industry. And that is a sad side effect.
Overall though, it’s quite a selfish job. Out of my team, few of us are married or in serious relationships. We live away from home for months every year, we work long hours and we each have so many responsibilities that it would be too difficult to balance a family as well. You have to sacrifice so much to get to where you want to be in this industry.
After months of hard work, eighty hour weeks, no personal time, endless to do lists, the shows go on and it’s wonderful. At Latitude, I took a break to see Mumford and Sons with two colleagues. We looked around and saw thousands of people laughing, cheering, having a great time. We all burst into tears. Everything we had done and all the pressure we had been under had been worth it for our moment seeing all those happy people and knowing we had created 90,000 other moments. We had made it possible for all those people and those musicians to have that shared experience. It was an awesome feeling. Despite its challenges, I know I wouldn’t want to do anything else.
Copyright text and images: Polly Dennison
